The marking of time - especially around the 11th of the 11th

The concept of time intrigues me and also agitates me. It's the one thing we as humans have little or no control of and has such a big impact on us and our planet. Of course our individual time on this earth is minuscule... in fact someone has worked it out.

Your age when you die = 85 years

Earth’s Age = 4.5 billion years

85/4,500,000,000 = 0.000,001,890%

Roughly your life span will be two millionths of one percent of the age of the Earth. Compared to a human life span of 85 years, it would be like a life form that lasts 141 seconds. 141 seconds is to a human lifespan, as a human lifespan is to the age of the Earth. 

Just to add some Canal reference here I found a picture the other day of the first time we saw Percy in the 'steel' so as to speak.

27th October 2012 at 10.26 am

So our ownership give or take a few weeks for surveys etc is coming up to 7 years not a lot of fractions of a % but those seven years have flown. And time does fly... but only when you look backwards. Looking forward to something and it seems to drag, it certainly did when we were waiting for the survey results 

I did buy time when I retired early, I brought my freedom from my job by a large pension sacrifice - worth every penny, if you can you should I have not regretted a day of no work and being on my own time

So where is this going. I walk a lot in the area of the moorlands where we now live, great for the body but also great for the soul. One of my walks takes me through the graveyards of Kingsley Church St Werburghs - The Church is a grade 2 listed building, with the tower dating back to the 13th century.

Kingsley Church link

I first started walking through the graveyard when we got the cottage April 2017 and there were two graves in the newest part of the church. There seems to be a new grave appear each month just lately - or more frequently. Its filling up so quickly they have now set the plinths for the next row of lives lived and completed….

It's one thing the graves spreading, but when you read some of the dates - a few have lived long lives but some have lived less than my time on this earth. Some of the older graves in the cemetery around the church date back hundreds of years - all people who lived their lives and are now not talked abut, maybe just read out aloud to keep their memories alive! 

On a poignant, relevant and related thread the Commonwealth war graves cemetery at Tyne Cot  has a constant reading out over discretely placed speakers the names of the34,887 soldiers from the United Kingdom and New Zealand Forces who are commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial to the Missing. As visitors walk along the path to the Visitors Centre names are spoken out loud by a female voice. These names are called out every few seconds on a continuous speaker system. It is incredibly moving and I was compelled to stand and hear as many names as I could saying a silent thanks you to each man who was read to me as his memory passed by me.

So spend that minuscule % of you time wisely, if you are doing something you don't enjoy try to change so you do not have to. Be brave be bold, relish each new day and every now and again say a silent thank you to those men and women who gave their today so we could have our tomorrow.